Ah - It's been an exhausting few days! Hoi An has got hundreds of tailor shops and walking around all of them is tiring work, believe it or not. We originally had planned to stay 3 nights, giving enough time for the clothes to be made, however, had decided to stay an extra night. The hotel we are staying in, Thien Nga, has turned out to be really nice but it comes at a price of $25 a night (a lot in Vietnam!).

Hoi An seems a lot quieter and civilised in comparison to Hanoi. There are a lot of tourists, mainly for the shopping, yet the town remains interesting and full of character with many lantern-lit lanes adding to the ambience. Perhaps a little more commercial and 'resort-like' than we'd expected, but still well worth coming to.

Now the best part - the clothes. Both Ketan and I set out with no budget (mistake) and I had been looking forward to getting some tailor-made dresses for a while. We had print-outs of all the designs we wanted from high-street shops so replicating the clothes wouldn't be a problem. Bargaining was half the fun. Because there are *so* many tailors you'd need to spend at least 2 days just doing research in each shop to see how the prices compare. Being on a tight schedule puts the pressure on but we found a great tailor who catered for our needs perfectly with good quality material/labour. In total, Ketan bought two 3-piece suits, jeans, casual trousers, trench coat and hand-made shoes all for $310. I bought 3 summer/casual dresses, 1 silk dress, jeans, smart trousers & trench coat for $173. I have to say these prices were a lot more than I'd thought they'd be - especially with the exchange rate not being in favour. I thought we'd roll in and it would be a fraction of the price compared to London - how mistaken we were :) It seems like the Vietnamese are catching on to the fact tourists have money to spend - damn them!

We've had some great eating experiences yet again, including an Italian place called 'Good Morning Vietnam' coming up trumps. The sight seeing went as far as the tailor shops and cute lanes we saw everyday, and the ridiculous amount of lanterns lit up all over the town! Overall a great, but costly, stop :)